President, Republicans square off

Published: Sunday, June 27, 1999

WASHINGTON {AP} President Clinton and Republicans squared off Saturday on issues they see as winning ones for the 2000 campaign: The president appealed to parents with his plan for more teachers and smaller classes while a popular governor touted GOP success at cutting taxes.

In his weekly radio address, broadcast from Camp David, Clinton announced $1.2 billion in grants to hire 30,000 teachers for the new school year. Congress approved the program with bipartisan support last year, when lawmakers were up for re-election.

This year, Clinton said, "unfortunately there are some in Congress who are backing away from their commitment to reduce class size" by financing a total of 100,000 new teachers. Clinton has asked Congress for a total of $12 billion over seven years to pay for those new teachers.

"I think a promise made in an election year should be kept in the years when there are no elections," he said.

GOP Rep. J.C. Watts of Oklahoma, chairman of the House Republican Conference, replied with a statement that did not directly address the teacher-hiring proposal, but said generally: "Republicans believe we should give parents and local school officials independence from federal mandates so that education dollars can be spent on students rather than wasted on abstract theories or heavy-handed Washington mandates."

In their formal radio rebuttal to the president's broadcast, Michigan Gov. John Engler spoke for Republicans, spotlighting efforts of the 31 GOP governors to cut taxes, improve education and streamline government.

Four years ago, the average American had to work until July 2 to cover taxes and the cost of government regulation, Engler said. He noted that the date this year fell on June 22, crediting Republican governors with shortening the time period by 11 days.

"And just as important, GOP governors are reforming welfare and fixing our public schools so taxpayers get more for their money, more families can escape poverty and more children can get a high-quality education."

Engler also took a dig at the president's wife, Hillary, who is considering running for the Senate from New York, a state where Engler said Republican Gov. George Pataki has signed 36 tax cuts into law.

"As Governor Pataki puts it, New York has gotten so much better with Republican leadership, first lady Hillary Clinton is thinking of moving there," Engler said.